East Hall shipping for Super Derby

Trainer Bill Kaplan has confirmed East Hall as a starter for the Grade 2 Super Derby at Louisiana Downs and said he plans to breeze the horse at Gulfstream Park on Saturday before shipping him out by van the following day.

East Hall, the winner of the Ohio Derby in his last start, was under consideration for the $75,000 Monarchos at Gulfstream this Saturday, but Kaplan said he feels comfortable giving the late-running gelding a shot at bigger money a week later in the $400,000 Super Derby.

“There’s the one horse in there that I know should be tough, but otherwise, it looks pretty wide-open,” Kaplan said, referring to Vicar’s in Trouble as the likely favorite for the Sept. 6 Super Derby in Bossier City, La.

The upcoming breeze will be the third at Gulfstream for East Hall since he posted a 9-1 upset in the July 19 Ohio Derby. His defection from the Monarchos leaves Atreides, a flashy winner of both of his career starts, as the likely favorite among 25 3-year-olds nominated to the one-mile race. Entries for the Monarchos were to be drawn Wednesday.

Kaplan said he also will ship two 2-year-olds for grass stakes on the Super Derby undercard.

Vicar’s in Trouble, the winner of the Louisiana Derby in March, most recently was third in the Aug. 2 West Virginia Derby. Although trainer Mike Maker has an active string at Gulfstream, Vicar’s in Trouble is at the Trackside training center in Louisville, Ky. He is one of at least eight known prospects for the 1 1/8-mile Super Derby.

Best Plan Yet wins stakes

Best Plan Yet earned a 76 Beyer Speed Figure in notching the first stakes victory of his career Saturday at Gulfstream in the $90,000 Forty Niner Stakes, a 1 1/16-mile turf race.

“It’s very satisfying because of all the turf pedigree on the dam’s side,” said Stanley Gold, who trains the 3-year-old colt for the Jacks or Better Farm of owner-breeder Fred Brei.

Produced by the mare Bayou Plans, Best Plan Yet is a half-brother to Grade 1 winner Midas Eyes; multiple stakes winners Awesome Belle and Bayou’s Lassie; and Al Zir, a $1.6 million yearling who was Group 1-placed overseas. All but Midas Eyes fared best on grass.

Gold has been the dominant stakes trainer this summer at Gulfstream, with 5 wins and 4 seconds from his last 13 stakes runners.

Rainbow 6 guarantee

A $50,000-guaranteed pool in the Rainbow 6 jackpot wager remains in effect when another four-day week begins Thursday at Gulfstream. A 10-race program starts at 1:15 p.m. Eastern, with the 20-cent Rainbow 6 sequence (races 5-10) scheduled to start at 3:21.

There is no real feature on the card, with a pair of starter allowances (races 4 and 7) being perhaps the best races of the day.

Friday looks only a little better in terms of high-end races, with a solitary allowance (race 8) carded among 10 races.

Gulfstream’s races can be viewed daily via live streaming on DRF.com.

Zayas still rolling

Edgard Zayas ended a terrific four-day span when he rode five winners Sunday at Gulfstream, extending his lead atop the jockey standings.

Zayas also won a combined seven races Thursday through Saturday, giving him 12 winners for the week and 49 winners at the meet. Ramsey Zimmerman is a clear second in the jockey standings with 34 wins.

One of the five Zayas winners Sunday, Skip’s World, came for Carolyn Hine, best known as the owner of the great Skip Away. Another, Ten Easy Street, was for the new owner-trainer team of Frank Calabrese and Mike Petro.

Although most Zayas winners were among the favorites, he did have a $33.60 winner Saturday, when Primal Might upset the fifth.

Gulfstream simulcasts popular

Despite having no marquee races this summer, Gulfstream continues to lure bettors to its simulcast signal. Officials said the per-day average handle is the third-highest in North America, behind only Saratoga and Del Mar.

All-sources wagering for the latest four-day week (Aug. 21-24) totaled more than $14.6 million, for an average of more than $3.6 million per card. Saturday handle was almost $4.2 million.

There are no graded races at Gulfstream until the championship meet starts in December.

Rose gets elusive win

Trainer Barry Rose lifted his win percentage Saturday by sending out Jamie’s Dancer to win the ninth race; he’s now 2 for 54 at the meet.

Lest you think Rose is struggling, however, he is faring better than Padarath Lutchman, who is 0 for 57 at the meet and last won a race May 16 at Calder, a skein of 105 losers.